ABSTRACT
The thrust of this study is a sociolinguistic analysis of the gender
on language use. The method of investigation used for this study is
questionnaire and audio-recoding. This study has established the fact
that the differences between male and female in ways of interacting
often leads to wrong notions, meanings and interpretations given to
certain statements and gestures. It was also discovered that the
differences between male female in the aspects of turn taking, use of
minimal responses, use of questions, shift between topics, loud and
aggressive arguments, often result in miscommunication and
misinterpretation and when this happens, it leads to breakdown in
communication.
INTRODUCTION
People have always known that gender and language use are connected.
Women and men however, do not use completely different forms but
different quantities or frequencies of form. Though both sexes use
particular form, one sex shows greater preference for them than the
other. Research shows that women tend to use more of standard forms than
men do, while men use more of the vernacular forms than women do.
Gender itself is an influential factor accounting for different speech
patterns among men and women. Therefore, the major pre-occupation of
this study is to examine the differences in the use of language between
men and women and the influence of gender on the use of language. This
study is aimed at bringing to limelight such factors that are
responsible for differences in the use of language between men and women
and by implication how gender interfere with language use.seeks to
examine the differentiation between male and female use of language and
how gender consideration influences speech patterns. This has to do with
how gender influence interaction among sexes. To achieve this, data
will be collected from 400 level students; forty (40) students (20 males
and 20 females) were selected at random for this study from the
Department of English and Literary Studies. 400 level students who I
relate with daily are selected because it will be easier to collected
data for this study. Participants will be interviewed and questionnaire
issued out and data will be collected, discussed and analysed
explicitly.
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
When we tell people about ourselves or our circumstances, or ask for
information about others and their circumstances, we are using language
in order to exchange facts or opinions. This use of language is often
called ‘referential’, ‘propositional’ or ‘ideational’. Language is used
by human beings in social context, communicating their need, ideas, and
emotions to one another (Labov, 1981:83). Human language according to
Sapir (1921) ‘is a purely human and non-instinctive method of
communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of a system of
voluntarily produced symbols’. Language as Sapir rightly said is human.
Only humans’ posses language and all normal human beings uniformly
possess it. Animals also have a communication system but it is not a
developed system. That is why language is said to be species specific
and species -uniform.
Language gives shape to people’s thought; it guides and controls
their entire activities. It is a carrier of civilization and culture as
human thoughts and philosophy are conveyed from one generation to the
other through the medium of language (Syal and Jindal, 2001:5).
Ultimately, attitudes to language reflects attitude to the users and
uses of the language. People generally do not hold opinions about
language in a vacuum. They develop attitudes towards languages which
reflects their view about those who speak the language, and contexts and
functions with which they are associated (Holmes, 1996:344).